The vegan movement in Ireland has noticeably increased its advertising and social media presence in recent years. It has been trying to build awareness of its philosophy, which is to abstain from the use of animal products or byproducts, particularly in the human diet. This means, meat, dairy, eggs or any product derived from an animal is unacceptable in a vegan diet.

In Ireland, the main vegan advertising campaign is directed by Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary, a registered charity in Co Meath run by animal rights activist Sandra Higgins. While Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary (CLG) describes itself as a farm that caters for rescued animals, a significant proportion of the charity’s activities relate to running the Go Vegan World advertising campaigns prominently displayed on billboards around the country this week.

Accounts filed with the companies office (CRO) for Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary show the charity has significant resources. It has two directors – Clara Mozes with an address in Germany and Sandra Higgins with an address in Meath. For the 12-month period to the end of March 2017, the charity had income of just over €1.25m, which was a near 11-fold increase in funding compared to the previous 12 months.

Although the source of this income is not divulged in the accounts, Higgins has publicly stated it comes from donations from wealthy animal rights activists. Over the year, Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary had expenditure of just under €960,000. The vast majority of this expenditure (82%) went on the Go Vegan World advertising campaign in Ireland and the UK during 2017, which amounted to €790,000.

This advertising spend on vegan messaging was a ninefold increase on the €90,000 spent the previous year. The charity is yet to file accounts for the 12-month period to the end of March 2018 but the likelihood is that resources and spending on advertising has increased significantly again judging by the growing scale of the organisation’s advertising campaigns in the last year.

At year end March 2017, Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary had just under €336,000 in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet.

Vocal minority

The annual Veganuary campaign has angered Irish and UK farmers, with social media channels in particular being used to target farmers and promote a vegan lifestyle. While the growing noise from vegan activists online makes it seem as if this movement has become massively popular and mainstream, the reality is that the number of people who count themselves as vegans in Ireland is very small.

Approximately 3.5% of the population worldwide are vegans, a total of 725 million; 360 million of these are in India.

Research from Bord Bia shows that in Ireland just 4.1% of the population, or 146,000 people, consider themselves vegan. There are over 12 million vegans in the US (5% of the population) and 1.85 million in the UK (3.6% of the population).

The study also found that there are an almost equal number of vegetarians and vegans in Ireland, with 4.3% following a vegetarian diet. The study shows that 50% of Irish vegans adopted the diet in the past 12 months. Recent subscribers to these plant-based diets tend to be under 34, living in urban areas and earning higher incomes.

Both vegans and vegetarians reported a wealth of motivating factors in adopting their diets, from health and ecological concerns to peer and social media influence. Motivations also varied by age group, with over-34s more likely to be motivated by ethical concerns around the environmental and animal welfare.

In reality, the greater consumer trend we are seeing in western societies is not a mass movement towards strict vegan diets but rather a shift toward something known as a flexitarian diet. A flexitarian diet is mostly comprised of plant-based foods, which can often be vegan, but also allows for the consumption of animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs in moderation. This new diet is perceived as healthier by many consumers but, most importantly, is far more flexible than the rigidness of a fully vegetarian or vegan diet.

While the vegan movement is noisy, it remains niche. In contrast, the flexitarian diet is something which is holding far greater appeal with the middle ground of consumers, so much so that Kerry Group has identified this as a mega-trend in the food industry today.

The evidence for this is backed up by where financial markets have placed investments over recent years. Start-up companies such as Beyond Meat, Memphis Meats and Impossible Foods, which all manufacture alternative proteins, or fake meat, from plant-based ingredients, have attracted huge investment from financial markets.

Plant-based protein

Closer to home, two of Ireland’s largest food companies have placed bets on the growing move towards plant-based protein. Kerry Group and Glanbia have both made sizeable investments in this space. In 2017, Glanbia acquired Amazing Grass, a US-based maker of non-GMO plant-based protein products. At the time of the purchase, Glanbia said Amazing Grass would give it a good footing in the plant-based nutrition market.

In early 2018, Kerry Group bought a 50% stake in Ojah BV, a Dutch company that manufactures substitute meat products from plant proteins such as peas and soya. Even before the Ojah BV acquisition, Kerry already manufactured a range of dairy-free, soy-free and vegan plant-based protein products under its ProDiem brand.